McIlroy Shines Through the Sogginess

Rory McIlroy endured a weather delay in the second round Friday to improve his two-day score to nine under par.Credit
Luke Sharrett for The New York Times

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It was early Friday afternoon, which meant the 96th P.G.A. Championship had not even reached its halfway point. There were many hours of golf left to be played.

Yet with Rory McIlroy once again in the lead, he was asked, What would it mean to win a second major championship in one season?

McIlroy, this year’s British Open champion, had persevered through a pelting drizzle and soggy conditions to post a four-under-par 67 to go with his first-round 66. His lead eventually would be only one stroke over Jason Day and Jim Furyk.

But the lead felt like much more. McIlroy had attacked a challenging golf course in difficult conditions and made it look effortless.

“Yeah, it would be big,” he said. “It would be a fourth major championship — two in one year, two in a row.”

McIlroy’s face reflected the delight of a 25-year-old flourishing in his chosen passion. His smile grew wider.

“I’ve got to keep what I’ve got going,” he said.

McIlroy slapped the table at his side.

“If I was sitting here on Sunday night with the Wanamaker right here,” he said in a nod to the mammoth trophy awarded to the P.G.A. champion, “I’d be very happy.”

It has been a heady three weeks for McIlroy, who has put up numbers that are impossible to ignore. In his last 10 competitive rounds, McIlroy is 41 under par: nine under this week, 15 under while winning the Bridgestone Invitational and 17 under as he won the British Open. He is also 25 under in his last 10 rounds at the P.G.A. Championship, which he won in 2012 by a record eight strokes.

“I think it has happened to me for the better,” he said. “I’ve put a little bit more time into my golf and it has refocused me in a way. It’s the only thing — not the only thing I have because I have family and friends — but I just immersed myself in my game.

“I guess, what else do I have? I get up in the morning, I go to the golf course, I go to the gym,” he added. “It’s just sort of it’s just my life at the minute, you know? It obviously works pretty well, so I’m going to keep doing it.”

In each of McIlroy’s previous major championship victories, he has held the lead entering the final round and been especially dogged in those situations. He has come to be known as a good closer, someone comfortable with a lead, which is a juxtaposition because his first flash of dominance at a major ended with an embarrassing collapse. He blames his mental approach at the time.

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“I went into protection mode with a lead once in my career,” McIlroy said Friday. “That was at the 2011 Masters. That didn’t work out very well. So I said to myself, I’ll never do that again.

“My mind-set has stayed the same since that day. If I’m two ahead going into the weekend here, I’m going to try to get three ahead. And if I’m three ahead, I’m going to try to get four ahead and if I’m four ahead, I’m going to try to get five ahead. I’m just going to try to keep the pedal down.”

If it sounds simple, that is because at this point McIlroy’s game could not be more uncomplicated.

Martin Kaymer, as one of McIlroy’s playing partners Friday, had a front seat to McIlroy’s stress-free ascendancy.

“When he hits the driver that straight and that long, and the short game is incredible, it’s very difficult to beat him,” said Kaymer, the reigning United States Open champion. “He doesn’t miss many golf shots. There’s nothing wrong with his game — putting, chipping, bunker, whatever it is. And then he hits it 20 or 25 yards longer than anyone else. He’s definitely the best player in the world.”

McIlroy’s authoritative trip around the Valhalla grounds Friday might have been made easier by the weather conditions, which generally vexed the rest of the field. McIlroy has proved to be a crafty bad weather player. When he won his two majors on American soil, at the 2011 United States Open and at Kiawah Island in 2012, the golf courses had been softened by rain.

“Yeah, historically I’ve done well in soft conditions, but I don’t really like that I’m getting that sort of stereotype or tag,” said McIlroy, who had four birdies and an eagle Friday to go with two bogeys. “At the same time, those sort of conditions seem to suit me well. But I feel like I’m more than just a player that can win in soft conditions.”

The weather forecast is improving for the weekend, although the threat of thunderstorms remains. In either case, the field will have to contend with a player playing with few weaknesses, and that includes his mental equilibrium. Because McIlroy is having a good time.

“It’s fun; I still like bombing drives 350 down the middle,” he said with a playful grin. “Yeah, when I’m playing like this, it’s obviously very enjoyable, and you know, I can’t wait to get back out on the course again tomorrow and do the same thing all over again.”

A version of this article appears in print on August 9, 2014, on Page D1 of the New York edition with the headline: McIlroy Shines Through the Sogginess. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe